Your particular individual experience is not representative of the overall reach that Microsoft has, which is what OP is pointing out.
GitHub is the defacto "point" of software these days, with most devs jumping to that before anything else.
VSCode is the highest ranked editor from the StackOverflow 2023 survey, with (IIRC) something akin to 70%.
Azure is the icing on the cake, because now you have an entire generation of developers building on GitHub, from VSCode, and deploying onto Microsoft infrastructure.
I think VS Code and GitHub are mainly about branding and building a new reputation. Microsoft provides first-class development tools (VS Code and GitHub) to millions of developers every day now. Once this becomes the new normal to developers, Azure easily becomes a serious contender for running your applications as well.
I've worked for 7 software companies in my career. Every single one of them used Github, and I don't believe my experience was unusual in this regard.
Your argument implies that all Github does is service the Git protocol, but we all know it does so much more than that. From a cloud-based source control standpoint, Microsoft absolutely gained market control. An open protocol != cloud-based SAAS company.
I'd be hesitant to build on GitHub tools that have overlap with anything Microsoft provides. When something similar is introduced to Azure, why keep the subsidiary's internal competition around?
This happened already with VS Code vs. Github's Atom editor whose development has ceased earlier this year. (Not that I ever was a huge fan of Atom, but its discontinuation is a direct result of the Microsoft acquisition.)
It's probably also due to the fact that many devs inside Microsoft also use GitHub actively for larger projects.
To me this largely looks like they're actively listening to their own developers, or have a structure in place to allow devs to take the initiative to address the needs they're facing.
But I have zero insight in how MS works internally, so I can only guess :)
> I don't think Microsoft has anything to contribute to GitHub.
Microsoft has experience handling online code repositories and team services. Azure integration has the potential to improve deployment pipelines for many users. Microsoft has lots of experience doing things at scale, and can potentially find cost reduction maneuvers for Github. Visual Studio integration can bring more users to Github. Cooperate users are more likely to upgrade their existing agreement with Microsoft than they are to enter a finical relationship with a new company. Microsoft has just as much or more to offer Github as any other top 5 tech company.
GitHub is the defacto "point" of software these days, with most devs jumping to that before anything else.
VSCode is the highest ranked editor from the StackOverflow 2023 survey, with (IIRC) something akin to 70%.
Azure is the icing on the cake, because now you have an entire generation of developers building on GitHub, from VSCode, and deploying onto Microsoft infrastructure.
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